'Postcard Perfect'

I woke up in Zurich to a fine clear blue-sky morning, as if last night€™s deluge had all been a dream. Once again I am heading €˜off-piste€™ today as a friend of mine from San Francisco is over to visit his daughter who is at college in Lugano, down in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. I had planned on heading to Munich today (it's where the next U2 show is so, what the hell, why not go along?) but having a day to spare I decided to accompany my pal down to Lugano for the night.

We took a train through insanely picturesque mountain villages, rolling green mountain slopes, cows with bells round their necks, the whole bit, until we got to the little town of Lugano, situated on the shore of the coincidentally named Lake Lugano. It's all very beautiful and postcard perfect, though I thought it strange to note that whilst there isn't a scrap of litter to be seen and all the trains run perfectly on time, there is an enormous amount of graffiti sprayed on the walls of the narrow streets of the old town, that no-one seems at all bothered about. Art, or accident?

The lake was there, so it seemed rude not to take a boat out. This we did and floated out into the crystal blue stillness, all the while me wondering quite how I managed to score such a result on a day off. All this and a fine Italian dinner later - I wonder what everybody else on the 360 tour is doing tonight? And how long I'll get away with making my own tour up? If you happen to run into anyone from the U2360 tour, please don€™t let on that I€™m having such a good time.